A corpus study of most frequently used English verbs by Chinese beginner learners from a conceptual transfer perspective

Abstract

This paper reports a study that examines the relationship between English word learning and conceptual transfer within the conceptual transfer hypothesis in second language acquisition (SLA). Specifically, the paper identifies the systematic features of the most frequently used English verbs in the extended ICCI sub-corpus of Mainland China by beginner learners of L2 English from a conceptual transfer perspective. The identified systematic features of these most frequently used English verbs are analyzed by means of their collocation, colligation, semantic prosody, and discussed in terms of the conceptual or categorization system. We found that (i) conceptual transfer errors were recurrent and systematic; (ii) these errors were different from those made by the German-speaking beginner learners of L2 English. These findings largely support the hypothesis of conceptual transfer in SLA. Based upon the findings, some suggestions for English learning and teaching are offered.